Searchlight Pictures has released a new trailer for Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro's latest psychological thriller movie starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett. The film is slated for theatrical release on December 17.
Nightmare Alley stars Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, who is described in the film's plot synopsis as being a particularly manipulative carny. When Stan teams up with psychiatrist Dr. Lillith Ritter (Blanchett), the two could prove an even more dangerous pair to others. The trailer appears to be structured around the device of Stan being issued a lie detector test, which he — of course — is not being entirely truthful in responding to, as the scene is juxtaposed with moments of his various misdeeds.
In addition to Cooper and Blanchett, Nightmare Alley includes an utterly stacked ensemble cast that includes Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Clifton Collins Jr., Tim Blake Nelson, and Mary Steenburgen. Additionally, prior del Toro collaborator Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water) has departed the project due to scheduling conflicts, with the score now in the hands of Knives Out composer Nathan Johnson.
According to del Toro, his take on Nightmare Alley is based on the 1946 novel of the same name from William Lindsay Gresham, rather than the 1947 film adaptation. del Toro previously spoke with Collider about how he was first introduced to the book and how the upcoming movie will not embrace any supernatural elements:
“Well what it is is that book was given to me in 1992 by Ron Perlman before I saw the Tyrone Power movie, and I loved the book. My adaptation that I’ve done with [co-writer] Kim Morgan is not necessarily—the entire book is impossible, it’s a saga. But there are elements that are darker in the book, and it’s the first chance I have—in my short films I wanted to do noir. It was horror and noir. And now is the first chance I have to do a real underbelly of society type of movie. [There are] no supernatural elements. Just a straight, really dark story.”
Nightmare Alley comes to theaters on December 17. Check out the new trailer below: